Safaricom net income down to Kshs. 68B as M-pesa revenue tumbles – KBC

Safaricom Plc has recorded the first ever decline in full year earnings in its two decade run as net income dropped 6.8% to Kshs. 68.68 billion in a period major revenue streams were hurt by COVID-19.

During the period ending 31st March 2021, the giant telco saw revenue from M-pesa reduce 2.1% to Kshs. 82.64 billion while voice revenue also tumbled to Kshs. 82.55 billion, a 4.6% drop.

Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Peter Ndegwa attributes the mobile money revenue drop to fee waiver on transactions below 1000 to mitigate the impact of the health pandemic as free transactions hit Kshs. 4.4 billion.

“We remained resilient in a disruptive year, demonstrating strong operational capacity, diligence and commitment in supporting the country, our customers and shareholders through this uncertain time. Our immediate focus in the year has been to ensure that network capacity, operations and financial services are prioritized to limit disruptions,” said Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO.

However movement restrictions that saw consumers turn to online interactions saw the telco record a double digit growth in mobile data revenue which surged 11.5% year-on-year to Kshs. 44.79 billion.

Service revenue recorded a marginal decline of 0.3% to close at Kshs. 250.35 billion.